The present invention relates to blades for rotary abrading tools and the manufacture thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to an elongated blade especially suited for preparing floors and the like, and capable of rapidly removing residue glued down rubber backing from carpets adhering to a floor. Abrading tools used in the removal of material such as glued down rubber sponge from a floor after a rubber backed carpet has been removed are known to utilize abrading blades which execute a rotary motion during the abrading process. The present invention is directed to a more efficient blade which can be used in connection with such rotary motion devices.
Sandpaper is commonly utilized to prepare floors. However, sandpaper is relatively short-lived, with the result that two or three discs of regular sandpaper are required to sand down an ordinary house. In addition to being short-lived, sanding operations using sandpaper tend to be extremely time consuming, often requiring several days to complete a single job.
An alternative type of surface finishing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,612, issued to Anthony et al. In one embodiment, the Anthony et al. device utilizes a disc-like blade having a multiplicity of abrasive elements distributed on a work surface. The abrasive elements are positioned in an open distribution pattern, relatively widely spaced so as to cover only a fractional portion of the work surface. While the blade of Anthony et al. has the advantage of long life when compared with conventional sandpaper, several drawbacks still remain. The relatively uniform pattern of abrasive elements hinders the operation of the blade by shortening its life, reducing its effective cutting power, and increasing its cost. Furthermore, the disc shape hinders displacement of removed material away from the abrading machine, and material remaining near the machine has a tendency to clog the machine and reduce efficiency. The disc shape of the Anthony et al. blade also has the disadvantage in that damage to the surface being worked or surrounded surfaces often results.
It is toward the elimination of the above drawbacks of prior art devices that the present invention is directed.